Can I apply for family immigration if I am already in Norway?

For family immigration, the general rule is that you need to submit your application either from your country of origin or from a country where you have held a residence permit for the last 6 months or longer. There are only a few situations where applying for family immigration while in Norway is acceptable.

You can submit an application in Norway if you

have a valid residence permit in Norway or
qualify as a skilled worker and have legal residency in Norway (for example, you already have a valid visa for Norway or another Schengen country).

If you do not need a visa to come to Norway, in some cases you might be allowed to submit your application for family immigration in Norway although you are not a skilled worker. You can submit your application in Norway if you come from a country where no visa is required to enter Norway, you are staying legally in Norway and

you apply for family immigration to join your spouse or cohabitant (if you apply with your fiance(e) as your reference person, you must also have skilled-worker status to apply in Norway) or
you are under 18 years of age and apply for family immigration to join your parent or parents in Norway. If one of your parents is part of a parental responsibility agreement concerning you but is not in Norway, you will also have to obtain that parent’s consent or
you are the parent of a child who is a Norwegian citizen, and the child lives with you on a permanent basis.